Automatic current-controlling arrangement



Feb, 10 192 F. S. BARNES AUTOMATIC CURRENT CONTROLLING ARRANGEMENT FiledAug. 20 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwue/wfoz F S EAFF/VES QUEOQ Feb. 10.1925. 1,526,042

F. S. BARNES AUTOMATIC CURRENT CONTROLLING ARRANGEMEN'I Filed Aug. 20.1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F. 53 EAR/V155 Patented 1G,

UNITED STATES FRANK S. BARNES, OF ROCK HILL, SOUTH GAR-OTENA.

AUTOMATIC CURREITT-CONTBOLLING AEiBANG-EWIENT.

Application filed August 29, 1921.

To all 2072077; it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK BARNES, a citizen of the United l tates.residing at Rock Hill. in the county of York and State of SouthCarolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticCurrentControlling rirrangements of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to electric light and power plants. andespecially to an improved automatic current cont-rolling ar rangement.

The primary object of this invention is to so improve the plant orsystem known as Matthews full automatic, that the Start contact and Fullcontact or Stop contact will not are as they now do during motion of themachine or plant. In this connection, attention is directed to the Bookof instructions relative to the aboved named plant, published MatthewsEngineering 00., Sandusky, Ohio.

A further object is to eliminate some expensive parts of the Matthewsplant. while substituting less expensive parts and thus reducing thecost of a plant of this character, at the same time improving theoperation of the plant, also increasing its de pendability.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out or implied in thefollowing de tails ofdescriptiom in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Fig. 1 a diagrammatic view illustrating the general arrangement of theMatthews system as improved by my new arrangement and combinationincluding a switch o circuit closer operable by the contactor whichmakes and breaks the circuit between the battery and the generator whichis driven by the internal combustion engine.

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing diagrammatically the part of the systemwhich is directly connected with or includes my improvements, the contactor being raised or closed.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic detail showing the very simple and effectiveswitch-connections that constitute a very important feature of thisinvention.

Referring to these drawings in detail, in which similar referencecharacters correspond to similar parts in the several views, theinvention consists in the combination and arrangement of features aswill now Serial No. 494,012.

he fully described in connection with the main features of thelila'tthcws system. as follows:

fit 1 is indicated an internal combustion cngi. which ma be directly cmnectcd (as shown) or otherwise connected to a dynamo 2. t latter havingone tell that connected n amnere-hour-metc 3 through the m dium of amain-current conductor 4 which. extends from the ampere-hour-mcter to acl-blade knife switch 5 which is connect d to the light and power linesor service conductors. The other terminal of the dynamo or generator 2is connected to a stationary contact adjacent to a ."eiticall morainecontactor 6 which includes upand a lower contact-plate insulated om oneanother; the upper plate 7 being adapted to close the circuit betweentwo conductors 8 and 9 which connect the gen crater 2 to a conductor 10which connects the siorao'e battery to the switch The plate alsoconnects the ignition coil (or) in circuit with the engine 1 when saidplate is up. but the igiitioiuc'r nit is broken open when the contactoris down. The :ower plate. 11, wh dowm connects the cell c. with theconductor l0, termim .1! l A. V or this butts nectcd o the tcr zziinal oiv. and ti e terminal or the i e battery bl ng connected th medium ofmug an automatic ed therein. The plunger 15. ot the contactor 6., israised by a solenoid or coil l6 which has one terminal connected to acontact 17. known as the Start contact. on the meter 3; and the otherterminal of the coil 16 through the to the and brea lter 'l is connectedto the switch medium of wires 18 and 19 between which the circuit is ooned and closed by a switch hereinafter referred to the Baby-knifeswitch. or switch 20.

The foregoing description applies to the Matthews system. except thatthe Matthews baby-knife-switch has two blades, one of which I eliminate,and connect the wires 18 and 19 differently.

The hand of the meter is grounded t0 the body of the meter, and amovable contact 21 is always grounded thereto and connects with theconductor l which is also grounded to the meter body, A stationarycontact 22, known as the Full contact or Stop Contact, is secured on orin and insulated from the meter-body. In the Matthews system, this Fullcontact or Stop contact is always connected to the Baby knife switch;but in my improved arrangement it is connected to a switch 23, the uppercon tact of which is connected to a conductor 2%, and the lower contactof which is connected to a conductor 25 that is connected to theterminal 16 of the coil 16 and to a conductor which includes apush-button 27 and connects an Overload relay 28 to the switch 5.

In the Matthews system, the Stop contact is operated by a cam andtrigger mechanism (not here shown) which normally causes the circuit tobe quickly broken at the full or stop point, thus eliminating arcing atthis point except when the hand of the meter has not moved downsufficiently far to cause the cam to set the trigger. Under thesecircumstances, the arcing occurs at the Full contact or Stop contactwhen the plant is started and kept in operation by the Overload relay.The Stop contact can be made simpler, yet "tree from arcing, by the useof my improvement, and it also avoidsbending of the hand of the meter asis sometimes done by mechanism (not shown) designed to quickly break circuit at the Start contact. -Acording to my invention, there is nonecessity for quickly opening the switch at the Full or Stop point, andany appropriate simplified means may be employed for opening the switch21-22; for instance, the hand of the meter may rise against a projectionof the switch-member 21, as indicated in Fig. 1. It should be understoodthat the switch 21 22 is normally closed, and that even though it isopened slowly, it will not are when used in connectionrwith my switchand connections shown in Figs. 2 and 3. If either the switch 27 orswitch 28 is open when the switch 21-22 is opened, this breaks thecircuit through the coil 16, de-energizingit andallowing the plunger 15to fall from the closing position (Fig. 2) to the opening position (Fig.1); that is, to the position in which the plunger 15 releases the lowercontact of the switch 23 and permits it to immediately open upon thedropping of the plunger 15. By thus immediately breaking the circuit assoon as the current is sufficiently weakened through the gradual openingof the switch 2122, the hitherto detrimental arcing at the Full or Stoppoint is eliminated.

Moreover, this improved arrangement eliminates arcing between the handof the ampere-hour meter and the Start contact 17, as follows: As theload-current from the storage battery flows through the meter 3, causingits hand to move down and close the circuit at the contact 17 thisenergizes the coil 16, thereby lifting the contactor (3, which closesthe ignition circuit and thus starts the engine 1. The engine operatesthe generator or dynamo 2, thereby recharging the storage battery. Thecontactor 6, in rising, also closes the switch 23, and the current thatthen energizes the contactorcoil 16 flows through the by-path formed bythe switch and conductors 2t and 25, because the circuit is normallybroken at the push button 27 and because the hand of the meter 3immediately begins to rise from the Start Contactv 17 when the enginestarts the generator. In the lilatthews system, there is a detrimentalamountof arcing at the Start contact when the meterhand begins to rise,but this arcing is elimiated. by my improved arrangement in which theconductors 24 and 25 are connected in parallel with the start-circuit,so that instead of'arcing. the current takes the path of leastresistance, via, through the shunt or by-path 23-2et25.

In addition to the advantages pointed out in the foregoing. I accomplisha very considerable saving in the costs of manufactun ing and sustainingof the plant, by eliminating one blade and corresponding connections andconductors of the Baby knife switch. by eliminating the Hold coil, andby eliminating mechanism for quickly opening the circuit at the Startand Stop points or contacts.

the lifting-coil 16 to also hold the contactor 6 up or closed.

'From the foregoing. it will be seen that,

It should be understood that my improvement enables llli to the exactarrangement or combination here shown and described, but changes may bemade within the scope of the inventive ideas as implied and claimed.

Nhat I claim as my invention is:

1. In an electric system. the combination of a dynamo. a storagebattery, a contactor for making and breaking circuit between said dynamoand storagebattery, electrical means to operate said contactor, saidelectrical means including an ampere-hourmeter and a conductor inposition to contact with the h and of the ampere-hour-meter when thehand moves in one direction. a normally open switch in position to beclosed by said contactor and having oneof its contacts electricallyconnected to said conductor, a normally closed switch having oneterminal electrically connected to a terminal of said dynamo, and aconductor of the normally closed switch to the other contact of saidnormally open switch, said normally closed switch being openable by saidhand of the ampere-hour-meter when the hand moves in the otherdirection.

The combination of an electric circuit including a dynamo for energizingit, a storage battery, conducting means including a movable contactorfor electrically connecting said battery to said electric circuit so asto be charged by said dynamo, contactor-operating means including asolenoid electrically connected to said electric circuit so as to beenergized by the latter, said electric ircuit also including aservice-switch. said conducting means being connected to saidservice-switch in parallel with said electric circuit and in suchrelation that it completes a circuit through the dynamo when saidservice switch is open, said conducting means in cluding a normallyclosed manually operable switch for opening the circuit through saiddynamo, an ampere-hour-meter electrically connected to said electriccircuit of the dynamo, a normally closed switch in position to be openedby the ampere-hourmeter and being electrically connected to saidelectric circuit of the, dynamo, and a normally open switch having oneof its contacts electrically connected to said normally closed switchand having its other contact electrically connected to said conductingmeans which includes said solenoid, the said normally open switch beingclosable by said contactor by the same operation by which it connectssaid dynamo to said storage battery.

8. The combination of an electric dynamocircuit including a dynamo andan overload relay, a battery-circuit including a storage battery, asolenoid-circuit including a solenoid, a contactor operable by saidsolenoid for connecting said dynamo-circuit to said battery-circuit, anampere-hourmeter including a hand which is movable into and out ofelectrical contact with a contact that is connected to saidsolenoidcircuit, said hand being electrically coir nected to saiddynamo-circuit, said overload-relay including a switch which has itsterminals connected in parallel with said dynamo circuit, a normallyclosed switch having one of its contacts connected to saiddynamo-circuit, and a normally open switch having one of its terminalselectrically connected to the other contact of said normally closedswitch, the other terminal of said normally open switch beingelectrically connected to said solenoid-circuit and also to said switchof the overload relay, said normally open switch being closable by thesame operation of the contactor that connects said dynamo to saidbattery.

4. In an electric system, the combination of a conductor including anampere-hourmeter which latter includes a switch (17) for opening andclosing the circuit of said conductor, asecond switch (21-22) providedwith means electrically connecting it to a terminal of the first saidswitch, means being provided for efiecting operation of the second saidswitch by the first said switch, and a third switch (23) having oneterminal electrically connected to a terminal of the first said switch,the other terminal of the third switch being electrically connected to aterminal of the second switch.

5. The structure defined by claim 4, and electrically actuated meanscontrollable by the first said switch for controlling said third switch.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FRANK S. BARNES.

